Apartment hunting adventures - ?? about East areas.
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I imagine you have had bad experiences. I get that your feelings may be justified.
But all the same, I'm glad I won't be renting from someone who is projecting all that baggage of suspicion and negative expectations on me. I don't need it.
I also do not need a LL who will make sure he has a reason to enter my unit from time to time just so I know I can't break the rules. I wasn't gonna, thanks.
As for renting a place sight unseen, I did it once before and it was not great. The property management had done a real number on that place, lots of problems caused by their negligence that I found on arrival. But as bad as it was, we survived our year in it just fine. I had to step up MY game much in the way you describe having to cover your interests... I took tons of photos and video when we first arrived and documented eight typed pages of every single thing that was wrong with the place. I printed up two copies of the descriptions and photos, and took both to the office and demanded that the owner of the PM company sign both sets, and I signed both sets, and I gave one to them and kept one.
At the end of my lease, I asked the gal I was working with, if she still had that list of issues that I had created, that was signed by the owner, in my file. Of course she said, "No, I don't see anything like that." LOL...cool, cool. Good thing I have my own copy. Happy to scan it in and email you a copy of it.
I left that house in better shape than how I found it, and I was prepared to fight, on principle if nothing else, to get my deposit back if necessary.
The way I see it, worst case scenario of renting sight unseen is that the place is not livable in which case, AZ does have tenants' rights laws that would allow me to break a lease. I mean, if it's REALLY that bad. But I'm certain this complex is not. So the real worst case scenario here is that we don't love it...in which case, no big, we'll uphold our end and just move a year later. Not the end of the world.
Again I am polite and not projecting anything. It's the applicants who have said, "So you'll be coming over when we call?" Yes, I'll be over within an hour. Many prefer this. They don't have to submit a work order to a PM company and then wait a day or two for a response.
On the other hand if an applicant has a certain breed of dog which isn't allowed or want to put in an adult they know won't pass a background check... it's best to look elsewhere. It's fairly easy in AZ to evict renters who lie on their applications or break a lease agreement
As far as bad experiences I've one since taking over my rental properties in 2019. In this instance I elected not renew the lease agreement.
However, I have used PM companies for over 20 years. It wasn't unusual for me to find tenants had brought in unauthorized occupants and/or pets. Yearly inspections were often preformed by a third party which took photos of the problems that needed attention. There was never any mention of occupants or pets.
It wasn't until my mother moved to Mesa in 2016 and I began to visit her as well as my rental homes that I learned how poorly my properties were being looked after.
That's a good idea. I find it very important to meet applicants and for them to see the property before signing. Which is why I don't accept on-line applications. Then there a few ground rules I need to go over pertaining to HOA (esp. parking.)
Also I want applicants to understand it will be me coming over to change the AC filter or when they call in a repair. So, if they have any ideas to bring in additional occupants or pets after move-in... it's not going to work.
I like things simple: I make sure the house is rent-ready and I want renters who pay on time and follow the lease agreement.
Using the ac filter as an excuse to enter the rental?
Again I am polite and not projecting anything. It's the applicants who have said, "So you'll be coming over when we call?" Yes, I'll be over within an hour. Many prefer this. They don't have to submit a work order to a PM company and then wait a day or two for a response.
On the other hand if an applicant has a certain breed of dog which isn't allowed or want to put in an adult they know won't pass a background check... it's best to look elsewhere. It's fairly easy in AZ to evict renters who lie on their applications or break a lease agreement
As far as bad experiences I've one since taking over my rental properties in 2019. In this instance I elected not renew the lease agreement.
However, I have used PM companies for over 20 years. It wasn't unusual for me to find tenants had brought in unauthorized occupants and/or pets. Yearly inspections were often preformed by a third party which took photos of the house that needed attention. There was never any mention of occupants or pets.
It wasn't until my mother moved to Mesa in 2016 and I began to visit her as well as my rental homes that I learned how poorly my properties were being looked after.
OK. Well, yeah, obviously I don't have any issue with whoever is responsible for the management of the place coming over to do work that needs to be done.
The company I'm renting from now has actually pulled a trick that I think is absurd, at least before Covid... They used to tell us once a year, around the same time every year, that the owner of the building (townhomes) was considering selling and a "prospective buyer" needed to come visit and tour the place. I mean, the first time I took them at their word. The second and third years they did this, I rolled my eyes about it but accommodated them. The place has never been listed on the market or sold, and it was the same time every year...I kind of wanted to be like, "You know, if you just want to inspect our living situation, you could ask? No need for this silly subterfuge." But we don't break the rules. If anything I go out of my way to be a good tenant, above and beyond what is required.
Yeah, I can only hope that bad PM companies who fail to do what they should, eventually get sued for it. The bad one I dealt with, I was angry not only on MY behalf but because we looked up the public info on who owned the place, and the guy was a soldier stationed elsewhere...they were allowing HIS property to be run down and damaged and even have unfixed fire hazards. Like, serious ones. A gas leak that had been identified and marked by the utility company and never fixed, in the utility closet with the furnace and hot water heater, for instance. And I was supposed to be OK living there with my children? What the heck. That was years ago, and I recently looked up the house. It had been fully renovated and it's beautiful now and sold for a good chunk of change. The realty company that had rented it to us was not the company that was used to list and sell it, no surprise.
Using the ac filter as an excuse to enter the rental?
That's pretty extreme.
No, I need to be sure the filter is being changed once a month esp during the summer.
However, once I get to know the renter and everything appears to be going well I let them send me a photo with a date showing a clean filter has been put in.
When I enter a rental property to change a filter I can only go to where the return air vent is located. I can't look in bedrooms or the garage or the backyard.
But just walking through the house to the air vent can tell a lot. Who is this teenage who always answers the door. That cat? Who is the grandmother type sitting in the living room every time I come over?
I took over 6 rental properties in 2019 and removed the occupants from 5 of them.
Texas property taxes are an issue. One advantage of New Mexico. ABQ is another possibility. Looking at Craigslist there it seems like rents have not gone up much compared to AZ. I had businesses before in both El Paso and Las Cruces. I was only there part time to oversee things. But I like that whole region a lot. Less employment opportunities in Cruces. Many commute to El Paso which would be a grind after a while. If I was like I was 20 years ago looking for a new place to call home it would be near the top of my list. ABQ also.
I just came across this on Yahoo and was reminded of our discussion.. Amarillo and Lubbock in the top 10....https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-us...190000363.html also, agree with the comments about the commute grind... Everyone liked Las Cruces, but they there was, indeed, a grind to commuting where the better opportunities were in ELP. Looked extensively around NM and there often seems to be an underachievement, poverty vibe... along with high crime in ABQ. Affordable homes are often in flood plains.. was interested in Alamogordo.. would be a bet on the future of its AFB..
I just came across this on Yahoo and was reminded of our discussion.. Amarillo and Lubbock in the top 10....https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-us...190000363.html also, agree with the comments about the commute grind... Everyone liked Las Cruces, but they there was, indeed, a grind to commuting where the better opportunities were in ELP. Looked extensively around NM and there often seems to be an underachievement, poverty vibe... along with high crime in ABQ. Affordable homes are often in flood plains.. was interested in Alamogordo.. would be a bet on the future of its AFB..
Alamogordo is small. Not much going on beyond the military base. Cheap to live there. I remember looking before and several homes under 50k. If someone has trouble finding work in Las Cruces, Alamogordo will be much tougher and farther from anywhere. Another town in your top 10 list above is Springfield, MO. Very affordable. I have a friend from Tucson who moved there 2 years ago and loves it. Almost 500k live in the metro area. And the Ozarks are close by. Endless outdoor recreation.
You have gotten a lot of good information here. I just wanted to elaborate that we have "pockets" here so it's really hard to generalize even a city. I would not live in west mesa or even central mesa. Not that it's bad, but maybe west mesa for crime. However, I grew up in NE Mesa ( that area is fine but I personally don't care for it anymore) and I'm building a house in East mesa right now. Mesa is a huge city. The Eastmark area is really nice and up and coming. It is down the street from Gilbert but slightly cheaper with great freeway access. Even Gilbert, you will have old gilbert and new gilbert. One is not better than the other, it is just a different vibe. We like to make fun of Apache Junction (AJ) but there's actually a couple pockets of newer homes that aren't that bad. I'm in San Tan Valley but wouldn't recommend it due to how long of a drive that would be to your family. Housing is much cheaper though. Queen Creek is kind of close to Chandler but the prices have gone up so much that you could probably just be closer to your family and be in Chandler for a similar price.
If it were me I'd most likely settle on Chandler simply because the main reason you're coming out here is for that family member so I'd try to get as close to them as possible. Runner up is Gilbert because I just love Gilbert and I don't agree that it's snobby. I work in Gilbert and have lived there before. It's a great town.
OK. Well, yeah, obviously I don't have any issue with whoever is responsible for the management of the place coming over to do work that needs to be done.
The company I'm renting from now has actually pulled a trick that I think is absurd, at least before Covid... They used to tell us once a year, around the same time every year, that the owner of the building (townhomes) was considering selling and a "prospective buyer" needed to come visit and tour the place. I mean, the first time I took them at their word. The second and third years they did this, I rolled my eyes about it but accommodated them. The place has never been listed on the market or sold, and it was the same time every year...I kind of wanted to be like, "You know, if you just want to inspect our living situation, you could ask? No need for this silly subterfuge." But we don't break the rules. If anything I go out of my way to be a good tenant, above and beyond what is required.
Yeah, I can only hope that bad PM companies who fail to do what they should, eventually get sued for it. The bad one I dealt with, I was angry not only on MY behalf but because we looked up the public info on who owned the place, and the guy was a soldier stationed elsewhere...they were allowing HIS property to be run down and damaged and even have unfixed fire hazards. Like, serious ones. A gas leak that had been identified and marked by the utility company and never fixed, in the utility closet with the furnace and hot water heater, for instance. And I was supposed to be OK living there with my children? What the heck. That was years ago, and I recently looked up the house. It had been fully renovated and it's beautiful now and sold for a good chunk of change. The realty company that had rented it to us was not the company that was used to list and sell it, no surprise.
I find it difficult to believe the PM company would hide their reason for having someone come over to preform an inspection. Once a year is fairly common. Although I found such inspections are were usually done half-ass. I mean what does the person hired by the PM company to do the inspection really care? It's a low paying/crappy job. They want to get in/out and over to the next property as soon as possible. The more properties, the more money they earn.
Anyway...I knew one of my previous tenants had all kinds of junk in the backyard after I went over with a vendor to check the AC unit. So, I asked PM to do an inspection esp. check the backyard. Unfortunately, the inspection report came back with no mention or photos the backyard. The crap was still all there when I got rid of the PM company and then renters maybe six months later.
Over a 25 year period in San Francisco and AZ I went through 8 or 9 PM companies.
I find it difficult to believe the PM company would hide their reason for having someone come over to preform an inspection. Once a year is fairly common. Although I found such inspections are were usually done half-ass. I mean what does the person hired by the PM company to do the inspection really care? It's a low paying/crappy job. They want to get in/out and over to the next property as soon as possible. The more properties, the more money they earn.
Anyway...I knew one of my previous tenants had all kinds of junk in the backyard after I went over with a vendor to check the AC unit. So, I asked PM to do an inspection esp. check the backyard. Unfortunately, the inspection report came back with no mention or photos the backyard. The crap was still all there when I got rid of the PM company and then renters maybe six months later.
Over a 25 year period in San Francisco and AZ I went through 8 or 9 PM companies.
Yeah, the only thing for the "prospective buyers" to see is something I warned them about every single year when they called to schedule this "tour" with me...and I warned the "buyers" about when they came in the front door, too. It was not against any rules. Nope.
Just a lot of VERY adult art on the walls in the basement level.
"If you are easily offended, maybe don't go down there?"
Last time it was two older men and a woman. And the woman was clearly bothered, I heard one of the men tell her just to keep her eyes on the floor. LOL! But hey, again, no rules against having unusual taste in artwork! /shrug
By the by, john3232, I want to thank you for sharing your experiences with PM companies with me here.
Eventually, we are expecting to inherit a paid off house. We've discussed the possibility of putting it under management, as we don't want to live in it and plan to move elsewhere (likely back to Colorado) some years down the line. Husband told me the other day he would be open to considering selling it, and I told him that it all depends on what the market is doing. I figured I'd run some analysis and try to work out if it benefits us more to sell it or to rent it out.
But as we would not be interested in staying local to the house and doing the landlord activities and maintenance ourselves...that kind of puts another point in the "just sell it" column, honestly. At least, if the market doesn't tank or anything like that. I feel like an awful lot of smart investment handling is just picking your timing wisely. "You got to know when to hold em..."
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